Lightning Rider
by battybydesign
Summary: Sam is a magical girl! Barry is her magical companion, and Flint won't really understand her goal, since the legendary Lightning Rider is here to defeat Live Corp! He's not a bad guy... is he? Magical Girl AU, some tropes included, batteries are not.
1. Discovery

Hello, everyone! It's me, Claude again!

Yes, I know I should upload an update to Planet of the Pies. I WILL, I promise! I'm not that great a writer and as it happens, writing customer feedback is tiring! Tons of little stories about how much I care about teeny non-problems. It's very grating and makes it tough to want to write things I'M interested in.

Please enjoy this AU I've been playing with for awhile. Flint will be introduced very soon, but let's give Sam the show! She is, after all, the magical girl here. And now, without further ado, Lightning Rider.

Sam couldn't believe that she was going to be late. Her very first high-profile job and her third day, and she was running tardy to work, as if it was one of her college classes. She sighed as she darted through the crowd, small backpack hoisted on one shoulder as ballast (and that day's lunch). New York was always crowded, and today was no exception.

Today she was to introduce herself as the WNN's newest face, and she played out in her head what she ought to say. _"Hello America, I'm Sam Sparks! I'm an average girl, but my love for meteorology sure isn't!" Ugh, that is so LAME! There ought to be a better way to introduce who she was!_ She thought to herself.

"Scuse me, scuse me!" She shouted at the mass of orange-vested people in her path. She managed to shove through them and saw another group, but this time of large strawberries and blueberries, huddled against the building. Who just wastes this much food when the city was full of hungry people? Sam snorted angrily and launched yet another step, her blond ponytail bouncing, when her foot collided with a foot-high strawberry in her path.

Sam yelped as she flew head over heels onto the concrete. Upon landing, she was instantly annoyed. She didn't have time to fall on her butt; she was already running super late!

"Saspa?" The berry suddenly turned to her; large green eyes met smaller ones. This time, understanding dawned on Sam. For whatever reason, this wasn't food waste, but the latest outcrop of terrifying and monstrous sentient food terrorizing the city. Although looking at it now, this "monster" was not quite as terrifying as the newscasters made it appear. She shrugged it off; it's a newscaster's job to make things appear more dramatic than they were, and leapt back up on her feet to start the mad dash to work again.

At least, that was her plan.

Instead, she slammed right into another large group of people.

"ExCUSE me," she hissed, trying to shove through. She knew she was being rude, but dammit, so were they, and she had somewhere to be!

"I don't think so, Ms. Sparks," came the deep-voiced reply. Sam jumped back, shocked. "You're coming with us."

No, NO! Sam scrambled for a reply, but opted instead for the smarter option, to double back and run away. At this point she figured she would be lucky to get to work ALIVE… what was being a couple of minutes late anyway? She darted into an alleyway, panting, and came out the other side, thinking she had beat them.

She was grabbed by the arms suddenly and hoisted into the air! "LET ME GO!" She hissed and shrieked. Thinking back on her self defense classes, she screamed a number of attention-catching words. "HELP! MURDER! FIRE!" A large hand descended to cover her mouth. She wriggled furiously and bit. There was a growl, then a poke in her arm, and her vision turned dark. She thought she could make out a "SASPA!" but didn't have the brainpower to devote to thinking about it.

When Sam awoke, she was seated in handcuffs at a long, sterile white table. Her seat was metallic, hard, and uncomfortably molded. She took a look at her surroundings groggily, and noticed that the whole room was white: white tiles, white popcorn ceiling, white drywall, and too-bright white lights. Her backpack sat at her feet, violently shuffled through but contents untouched. When she saw that, she knew that this was no police operation and she started thinking of escape plans… but at that her head began to spin, and she groaned, holding her forehead in her hands.

A panel with metallic framing in the wall appeared to open inward; when Sam peeked up she found that it was just a door with no handle on her side. A slim, but intimidating figure stepped through; she had no idea of his appearance because he wore a high-collared dark jacket and the darkest sunglasses she'd ever seen. All that she could see of him was that he was bald and had a white mustache and close-cropped beard.

"Do you know why you're here, Ms. Sparks?" His voice was threatening, but had a nasal tinge. He seemed to hiss when he talked; maybe that was just her imagination.

Sam shook her head.

"We have reason to believe that you might be a terrorist, driven towards destroying Live Corp."

Sam looked up suddenly at that, aghast. "N-no. Th-there must be some sort of mistake," she slurred. She cleared her throat and tried again; the drug was still affecting her and made it difficult to talk. "I've never done anything against Live Corp… I know that the New York branch, at least, is driven towards the betterment of its people. Why would I want to take that away?"

"You tell me, Ms. Sparks. Earlier today our agents saw you consorting with one of the monstrous species that a terrorist had unleashed on the city… the same terrorist we've been trying to capture. I'll leave you here to think about that."

"Oh, noooo, you see, that was just a big misunderstanding –" Sam tried to argue.

"Ta-ta, Ms. Sparks," the mysterious man said, withdrawing back into the lit hallway.

Sam sighed a long, deep breath and put her head back into her hands. The drug was already starting to clear, but she had absolutely no experience in breaking out of handcuffs; why would she? _Although_ , she thought, _maybe this is the sort of skill I SHOULD pick up if I'm going to continue with journalism._

 _The one mercy about this room is that there are no cameras. If I can just make it out of these handcuffs, I can start moving… I'll plan as I go. I can do this._

"Saspa?" her backpack squeaked. Sam started, then opened her backpack.

Out hopped the strawberry from earlier! "Oh, no, not YOU. I'm sure you meant well enough, but you're what got me INTO this whole fix!" Sam groaned.


	2. Transformation

The strawberry rolled its eyes and turned to dig some more in her backpack. Sam sighed... her lunch was probably long gone. "TADA!" it chirped triumphantly, pulling out what looked like... a magic wand?

"Look," Sam began. "I'm sure you're trying to help me here, and I _appreciate_ it, really I do, but this isn't really..."

The strawberry grunted insistently, and forced the wand into her hand. She could've sworn she heard what sounded like "AWAKEN SUNSHINE!" in its chipper voice, and as if by effect, her body lifted into the air of its own accord.

Sam's vision twisted for the second time that day, but this time, it was filled with blinding, yet soft light... and was that sparkles? She shut her eyes, as there was no way she'd be able to continue this transformation with them open.

As the light surrounded her, despite the dire situation she was in, she really did feel at peace. The handcuffs shattered off of her wrists as ribbons of what seemed like pure magical energy... no, that was ridiculous, there had to be some scientific explanation for this... furled and unfurled around her, changing her outfit and filling her with power. With this, whatever it was, unexplained encounter that it is, she knew she could take on a host of enemies, the mysterious harasser among them.

When the sparkles lifted, she alighted down, first on her toes, then landing completely. She gave herself a quick glance and found that she was indeed dressed completely differently. Covering most of her face was a cat-eye style mask with wings on each side, and tying up her hair now was what seemed to be a galactic-patterned squishy scrunchy and a handful of curled golden feathers. Noticing this, she turned out each of her legs and looked herself over. Around her shoulders was a blue and grey cloud-patterned cape pinned with jewels cut in the shape of the sun. Outfitting her was a sparkly silver camisole that shimmered as if it was really raining, and she had a gold choker that turned into filigree lightning coating her chest, attaching to the camisole. She then had a midnight-blue tulle skirt gathered more at the sides so that it stuck out more, decorated with silver stars that hung from her waist. On her feet she had white slippers with golden puffs. Her magic wand, now that she looked at it more closely, was actually a miniature but cute lightning rod.

"You...did this?" Sam asked breathlessly. "Bah, eh eh. Uh..." the strawberry shrugged in response.

"Okay... I guess it doesn't really matter. Let's get out of here, uh... Berry? Barry!" Barry hopped up on Sam's shoulder, solidifying her decision to leave... not that it was really all that shaky.

"Aahhhh! Ah ah! Memba wetha! Memba wetha!" Barry cried, waving his arms.

"Remember the weather?" Sam asked. "Well, I guess I'll find that out when we get there." She dashed up to the door and tried to open it. "Dammit!" she cried, banging on the door, "Its only way to open is from the outside." She closed her eyes and unheeded, pictured a hurricane bursting through to a coast. Once again she lifted her fist, and with a WHOOSH busted a hole in the metal-supported drywall panel!

Sam looked at her fist, shocked, and then shook off the drywall and started walking quickly, then broke into a run. She didn't have much time to look around her, but there wasn't much to look at. The long hallway looked an awful lot like the room she had woken up in, with its snow-white walls and too bright lights. Her footsteps were light and didn't make much of a sound as she ran. She saw very many doorknobs but heard nothing from inside, not even muffled speech.

She had run for about ten minutes before she heard a shrill cry. "B-b-berries!" Barry cried, jumping off of the magical girl's shoulder. Sam took a deep breath and opened the door.


	3. Escape!

"I'm here now. What can I do to help?" Sam asked breathlessly upon bursting into the room. She noticed that there were a great number of berries all trapped inside glass cages inside what looked like a hangar. Some of them were very despondent, while others still had hope that they could break out and beat on the glass. "Oh my goodness... Who would... it's clear that you guys wouldn't harm a fly."

She thought quickly on how to get them out, because if she wasn't careful, she could really hurt them with her newfound weather powers. She imagined an earthquake, and how it would effect the glass cages in the room without introducing dangerously strong winds into the environment. As she decided that this must be the way to go, she stamped her foot, but called out a phrase this time: "Quake Shatter!"

A deep rumbling overtook the large room, and the cages broke carefully around the berries. They all gasped, then cheered as they realized they were on the way out! "Yess!" Sam cheered to herself. "Okay, hold on... Barry, can you help me out here? Everyone, please, uh... follow me!" The magical girl was surprised at how confident she sounded, because she definitely had no idea what she was doing. She remembered that there weren't any doors or exits in view of where she had come in, and spotted an industrial exit on the opposite side.

Sam quickly made her way across the room with several strawberries in tow, and tried to force up the door. But it just wouldn't budge...

The berries chatted amongst themselves and rushed over as well to help Sam push up the powered door. With a heave and a metallic shriek, the door finally did give way, and the rag-tag group rushed down this much smaller hallway to get to another door. With a deep breath, Sam now opened this door.

The space she stepped into was less a room than it was an elevator shaft. A metal catwalk connected her doorway with two other entrances surrounded by metal overhangs, and in the very middle there was a clear shaft that must act as a high-powered elevator. A lot of industrial white noise polluted the airwaves and echoed off of the walls. Each floor was marked by a glowing orange stripe all around the wall. The walls were completely circular, and stepping out cautiously she noticed that she also was protected by the railing of an overhang. Barry jumped at the sight of the enormous tunnel with a small gasp.

"Shhh," Sam told him, but it was too late. She had attracted someone's attention! Across the way, a string bean of a man jolted upon seeing her, and dropped the boxes he was carrying to run over to her for confrontation.

"Unauthorized intruder, where do you think you're taking those dangerous beasts?" The man, whom Sam had never seen before, stood up as straight as he could and puffed up his chest. He was only brave enough to come within a few feet of her airspace, and he tried very hard not to shake at the presence of the large group of berries behind her. He wore a lab coat with a high collar and cuffs, wide-legged navy shorts, and some kind of sparkly plastic-like substance made to look like boots up to his thighs. The t shirt under his lab coat was orange with the Live Corp logo, and he wore a thin blue scarf loosely around his shoulders. She scrutinized his face after looking him over. He had electric-blue eyes, a rather large nose, and metallic dust caked on his cheeks and chin. A bandage was slapped haphazardly under one of his eyes, and a pair of goggles kept his wild, thick brown hair out of his face with only a handful of fly-aways.

He seemed perturbed by her silence and stumbled over his words before continuing. "My name is Flint Lockwood, and I won't let you - uhhh..." Looking closer at her, he began verbally stumbling again. "What IS your name, intruder?"

Sam knew she couldn't risk giving out her real name. Not only would she endanger herself, but she would probably endanger her chances of ever getting, or keeping, another meteorology job ever again. She had to think of a cool alias... and quickly. "Lightning Rider... I'm known as Lightning Rider."

Flint thought that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. _She might be dangerous_ , he thought, _but dammit if she isn't gorgeous and... and so_ cool _!_ He had to collect himself. This was no time to be fawning! "I'm sorry, Lightning Rider, but I can't have you leaving the premises with those." He turned quickly and shuffled through the boxes he had dropped to pull out a device that looked like a water gun crossed with a refrigerator. He frowned as he inspected the weapon, then turned the facial expression on her. "I w-won't let you terrorize the city of New York... or the world!"

Sam grimaced. He was kind of cute... but he did just take out a weapon with what seemed like intent to use it either on her or the group of berries behind her. She bounded forward a few steps and tried to clear her head of weather and storms, then shot out her fist. As it connected with his face, Flint groaned, then crumpled to the catwalk's surface. "Sorry," she whispered, picking him up quite easily. She set him down gently by the entrance that he had come out of initially, making it so that he sat, supported by the railing of the overhang, by his boxes. Then she took the only other entrance, the group of berries following. Barry lingered momentarily, whispered "N woo...?" then followed behind them to freedom.


	4. Teammates? Coworkers

Thankfully, once Sam burst out from Live Corp's building, she found herself in an alley not far from her workplace. Away from the prying eyes of security cameras, which had lined the halls, she took a deep breath and collected herself for a few minutes.

"Okay, Barry, I think I can go back to being a regular weather-girl now. Can I count on you to guide your friends back home... wherever that is?" Barry nodded, and tapped her mask with her lightning wand. A breath of wind breezed her, and she was back in her work uniform: a white camisole, spring green cardigan, salmon slacks, and white flats. Her Lightning Rider mask had the ability to correct her vision, but there was nothing but her glasses for her here. She sighed; she might be bullied again, but she had to be able to see. As long as she took them off to broadcast, there was no reason her supervisor should throw a hissy... except for the fact that she was now really, really, super duper late!

"Shit!" she swore. If she wasn't careful, she might be blacklisted from finding another job here after she was surely fired for her tardiness. A shadow flashed on the concrete wall behind her and she froze, cautiously turning around. "Go, go, you guys! C'mon!" she hissed quietly. Barry frowned and stayed behind.

An orangutan wearing an orange vest hopped down in front of her before she could react. Sam stifled a scream. A Live Corp. executive!

"Don't hurt the berries!" she growled at the orangutan.

The orangutan looked up at her, blinking wide-lashed eyes, and rolled them. "Don't hurt... just who exactly did you think helped you out of this building? Who do you think sent Barry with the lightning rod, and... ugh. Never mind. I'm... I'm really glad you succeeded in your first mission, Ms. Sparks. My name's Barb." Barb extended her long arm in a handshake offered.

"You can call me Sam, Barb. You saved my life. I owe you for that. I have to get back to work now." Sam took Barb's hand gratefully.

"About that..." Barb started. The blonde meteorologist sighed.

"Lemme guess... I lost my job."

"Oh, no, no no, nothing so severe. I wanted to let you know you won't be working alone. I'm trying to get together four others for you. One for each classical element... you know, the old Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. Very unscientific... but incredibly magical." The orangutan smiled. "At least one of your new companions works at your station. Please look out for her."

"Will do. So I'm guessing there's more to these beasts than them being terrifying monsters?" Barb nodded in response. "Okay. Gotta dash... see ya!" The words were barely out of her mouth before she left the scene.

Sam burst breathlessly into WNN's headquarters. "Sorry I'm late!" she blurted to nobody in particular. She rushed into the second set of double doors and was met immediately by her unhappy-looking supervisor. "I'm so sorry, sir."

"Ms. Sparks, you know being this tardy isn't acceptable in general. If it were any other instance, you would be fired for sure. New hire... 4 hours late on her third day... but I have something to discuss with you. Please come into my office. Feel free to grab a donut on your way in." His brown eyes twinkled, though he was still frowning.

Sam grabbed a strawberry cake donut with a napkin and closed the glass door behind her; despite her supervisor's grace, she did not want to risk her position further by dumping a glop of filling or spreading sprinkles everywhere on the marble table. She sat stiffly in the high-backed leather chair with a polite smile and a nibble and her supervisor took the seat across from her.

"Ms. Sparks, this time I can understand why you were so late. I keep a close eye on the news reports. I have to, you know." She took a sharp breath inward. Did he figure out her secret? _Already?_ "There was a random kidnapping this morning at about the time when you were supposed to come in. Judging by your absence, and those bruises on your face, I'm guessing you were the victim of that. I'm glad you're here and I hope you're alright, although they haven't found the perpetrators yet. This your first time in New York?" His face softened, and Sam looked away and shook her head. She had forgotten that once the transformation wore away, the injuries she'd had prior came right back. No wonder her arms were so sore.

"Well, in any case. The other discussion I wanted to have with you. The other news report... did you hear about Lightning Rider? ... No, I suppose you wouldn't have. Well, it's some stupid vigilante kid who thinks she can be the hero. She broke into the Live Corp. headquarters and set the dangerous animals they'd held captive for safekeeping all free again. It's super interesting, though. I think she could be good material for us to cover."

Sam nodded. _How on earth would I pull that off?_ Now she frowned. "Ms. Sparks, this could be your big break into the foray of having a TV presence. Oh, that's right... you still haven't made your introduction. How about we hold that off until tomorrow? I won't make you work late today. We'll just count this as half a paid sick day. What I want you to work on for the rest of today is seeing if we can nab an exclusive interview with Lightning Rider. You can start just doing the research, especially since you don't know anything about her yet."

"I-I'll see what I can do." Sam replied, trying not to choke on the last of her doughnut.

"Oh, Ms. Sparks, please don't be nervous. I don't think she's out to hurt anyone. All we need is some method of contact for her. She is a 'hero' after all, right?" His employee nodded in response. She hoped nobody would ever figure out she was Lightning Rider. It looked like the whole city was about to become her enemy, since nobody knew it was Live Corp. who was in the wrong here. "Alright then, go ahead and get to work. It looks like a nice day to work."

"Got it, sir!" Sam left the office brightly and went to go work at her desk right by the window. She grabbed a slice of the leftover pizza that one of her coworkers had ordered and left on the shared meeting table in their office. She wondered what kinds of things had been written about her already. She logged into her Chromebook and got straight to work. She opened up the browser and flipped her notepad to a clean page.

The only news websites that had complete stories about her already were from untrustworthy tabloid sources. Not a one came even close to guessing who she really was under the mask. Sam smiled to herself, glad that nobody could tell... at least not yet. And this meant that the rest of her day would be super easy. She logged into Facebook and Twitter and rooted around; if anyone was going to blather about what they saw, it would be users on those websites for sure. Since she worked within a media outlet, social media was an expected part of anyone's work. More time passed than she had thought. The clock in the corner read 4:57. Before she closed out of her browser, she saw a status that made her look twice.

From her coworker, Callie:  
#unpopularopinion I think Lightning Rider is kinda cool lol

 _Could she be my next teammate?_

Sam didn't have any time to think before her group of work friends rushed over to her. "Come on Sam, you're not _really_ still working are ya? Let's go hit our favorite spot!" She laughed and shut down her Chromebook, forgetting momentarily about Callie's status.


	5. A Date!

Sam and her coworkers Callie, Max, and Olivia found themselves in front of Café Soleil, an art-deco styled cafe with black wire chairs and tables set out front. A few vintage movie posters graced the windows, and a hand-drawn promotion sat outside on a sandwich board. _Rainy day? It's cloudy with a chance of meatballs! 20% off of your spaghetti with a forecast of rain!_

Sam laughed absentmindedly at Max's bad spaghetti pun, and out of the corner of her eye noticed someone familiar, someone with a shock of out-of-control brown hair enter the cafe. _What was his name? Flint! It_ is _Flint. What is he doing_ here _?_ Suddenly, she had an idea.

"Come on guys! Let's go order! We can't sit out here forever," she laughed.

Max's dark eyes flashed mischievously. "Oooo, did you spot a hottie?"

"H-haha, what would make you think that? I'm just hungry! How about some more pizza?" Sam grinned, her green eyes twinkling. Olivia didn't seem too convinced, and caught onto the game. She brushed her long dark brown hair out of her face and smirked, exchanging knowing glances with Callie.

"Alright, if you say so."

Callie opened the door to the cafe and ushered in her friends. "After you, ladies." Sam smiled and looked quizzically back at her once everyone was inside. Callie raised her fiery eyebrows and quirked her mouth, and Sam shook her head and shrugged in response. She'd have to be more discreet.

"One large spinach and sausage pizza, please! And man, I could really go for a milkshake," Olivia quipped at the cashier. The ponytailed cashier smiled and nodded.

"Right away, miss."

Once their pizza arrived, Sam swiped a few pieces and looked at the group apologetically. "Guys, can I..."

"Girl, don't even finish that sentence. We _know_ ," Max laughed. "Just go. Good luck!" She and Olivia waved. Callie offered an encouraging grin.

"Thanks!" Sam took her full plate and made her way to the dimly lit corner, where Flint sat sadly nursing an Italian soda. This time, he had a companion who sat on his shoulder, a white-capped vervet monkey. Even the monkey seemed despondent. She noticed the large bruise forming on his face and squelched the feeling of guilt that rose up suddenly. "Is... this seat taken, by any chance?" _It's a good idea to get close to him. That way I can have an easy in with Live Corp._ she thought, rationalizing her decision further.

He looked up at her and perked up immediately. "H-hoh my gosh. Y-yes, I-I mean n-no. I know you!" he exclaimed, turning red almost immediately. Sam cringed. _Does he know?_ "You're the new girl from WNN, Sam, uh..."

She could not have been more relieved if she tried. That damn paranoia! It had to stop overtaking her or someone really would find out! "Sparks. I'm Sam Sparks. And you are?"

"I'm Flint. Flint Lockwood. A-and this is Steve. It's n-nice to m-meet you. H-hoh my gosh. A real celebrity."

"Steve!" Steve exclaimed.

"Oh, stop! I just tell people about the day's weather. But YOU, you made a way for that monkey to talk!" She giggled, embarrassed. "Would you like some of my pizza? I can't imagine you'd come here just to drink, though the Italian soda IS quite delicious." The brunette man suddenly decided that his cup was the most interesting thing in the world, his face turning very red. Steve's shout of "Pizza!" did not help his case.

"Thanks... my job at Live Corp. d-d-doesn't p-pay very much. But that Chester! He's a real nice guy! He's inspiring. I wish I could be like him." Flint took a bite and chewed thoughtfully, his expression wistful. After swallowing, he seemed a lot better, and took another sip of his drink. Sam decided now was a good time to drop the bomb.

"Soooo, I was wondering, are you doing anything tonight?" she asked casually. She blinked flirtatiously at him, but that was hardly necessary. He spit out his drink immediately, blushing even more furiously than before. _Don't do it_ , she thought. _Don't date the enemy. That is bound for disaster. You were supposed to get close to him, you're getting distracted!_

"Y-y-n-nooo. No. I'm not. Would you like to...?" he responded.

"How do you feel about a movie? That new family comedy, _The Wurst of Brats_ , opens tonight. You wanna come with?"

"Is this a date?" he asked, his blue eyes wide.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Is this a date...?" The question was a mumble this time. "I've just... I've never been on a date before."

"But WHY? You're so CUTE!" Sam exclaimed without thinking. She blushed and pretended not to notice when pretty nearly the whole restaurant turned to look at her. The sound of the espresso bar even stopped for a second as one of the staff stared at her. Even his mouth dropped open, astonished that someone would say something like this to him. "Anyway. Flint. Would you like to come with me and see the movie? It doesn't have to be a date if you don't want it to be."

"Okay! I can do that!" He pumped his fist.

"Meet me at the Soaring Beauty theater in 20 minutes?"

"MOVIE!" Steve exclaimed.

"I think that's a yes." Flint giggled and the tension seemed to leave him. He smiled brightly at her. She placed two dollar bills on the table and stood up to leave. He stood up as well and began to follow her. Steve switched onto Flint's other shoulder.

As they left, Olivia, Max, and Callie all gave Sam various gestures of approval, such as thumbs up, an a-ok sign, and right as she passed by, they hissed in unison: " _Scoooooooooorrrrreee!_ "

Thankfully, Flint did not hear this. Sam did, however, and she sternly put a finger to her lips.


	6. Battle

Twenty minutes wasn't much time, but Sam was there just in time for the 6:20 showing of The Wurst of Brats. Just in time, of course, meant enough time to stop by the corner store and grab a couple of candy bars. Her backpack squeaked ever so softly. Well, it had been squeaking ever since she had sat with Flint at Café Soleil, but she hadn't really noticed. It was Barry, of course, and what he was saying sort of sounded like "N-woo".

"Shhhh," Sam quietly hissed at her backpack. She peered inside the movie theater, but didn't see him inside yet. _Where is he?_

Callie, unbeknownst to Sam, had tailed her and was now leaning casually in between the pillars of the skyscraper next door to the theater. While sweeping her landscape, Sam spotted her and waved. "Hey, Callie! I didn't expect to see you here!" Callie winced. The idea was not for her to be spotted, but she waved back and grinned nonetheless.

Callie's dark roots and dip dyed orange hair was a perfect match for her dark red flannel short sleeved shirt. She wore brown tight-legged slacks and ankle-high boots. Her tan skin was accentuated by the flash of dark mascara over her dark brown eyes and a white beanie. She walked over to Sam and began a conversation in a whisper. On her hip was a small camera bag, shock proof for on-the-road use.

"I'm waiting here to see if I can get coverage on Lightning Rider. Have you seen any food monsters?" she asked Sam in a hushed tone.

"No, not really... oh, I'm sorry, that's my date." Sam looked over and saw Flint stumbling towards them, scarf and lab coat flapping in the breeze.

Callie smiled wolfishly. "Enjoy. I'm gonna go see if -"

 ** _ROOOOAAAAARRRRR!_**

The bellow of a creature in the distance re-answered their shared question. Sam and Callie looked at each other, wide-eyed, with Sam looking offput, if not outright horrified, and Callie with an excited grin. Flint startled and turned around, looking nervous.

The creature that approached was somewhat in shape like a giant cheeseburger, with a maw of beef and cheese (plus toppings, of course) and legs of French fries. It was about twice the height of the city bus and approaching with a gait in between a skitter and a stomp. Upon spotting Flint, it hesitated, but shaking twice, seemed to reconsider with another cry, this time much closer to them.

 ** _ROOOOAAAAARRRRR!_**

The hair on all three of them blew backwards with violent force. In one decisive motion, Sam stepped in front of Flint protectively, and Callie reached for her camera bag slowly.

"Flint, run! We'll handle this!" Sam grunted over her shoulder. Knees quaking, the inventor nodded quickly and ran into the movie theater. She swept her eyes over her surroundings again. Most people had fled from the scene, but a few remained to film with their smartphones. _Dammit! I need somewhere secluded to transform._

Sam dashed into the alley between the theater and the skyscraper and chanted the transforming words. "Awaken Sunshine!" Again the warm energy overtook her, and she quickly dropped back to the ground as Lightning Rider.

And Callie was right there! How much had she seen? She was shaken. "Y-you can't tell anyone at work. Please!"

Callie simply responded "I _KNEW_ it!" as she pulled out a wand of her own, this one with a flame on one end. She, too, transformed and became Flame Rider. "Let's do this... together!" Flame Rider was dressed in a camisole of red, where sequined flames danced up the sides, and fiery tulle. She had white laced boots, and in place of a cape like Sam had, a short jacket with a smoke pattern. At her throat rested a thin choker with a ruby at its center.

Sam and Callie rushed back out to an audience of audible gasps. "It's Lightning Rider!" she heard someone shout. "Who's that with her? She looks so cool!"

Callie flashed her teeth and her eyes twinkled. "Nice, I have fans already."

Sam rolled her eyes playfully. "Whatever, let's just stop this cheesespider from wrecking New York." She was met with a look of disbelief.

"I thought the idea wasn't to harm the food monsters?"

"No! But we need to stop her from destroying things. I'm... not sure how we want to go about this."

Quick-thinking Callie had an idea. "If we encase her in a large, but controlled, ring of fire, she'll be too intimidated to go anywhere outside it! After that, I have no idea... but let's get there first."

Sam nodded quickly with a rapid "uh huh" and leaped into formation, adding, "I think I can enhance any magic you or the others put out, well, that is, when they join us." Flame Rider raised her wand and a flame began to dance from the tip. It encircled the creature, but not too tightly. It grumbled in response and settled onto its haunches.

But another noise could be heard alongside the growl of the cheesespider. A piercing yelp!

Sam smacked herself on the forehead. So much for being off the clock!

"Is that your boyfriend?" Callie raised an eyebrow at her teammate. She gasped a little as she realized what company he was with. "That's a bad plan, Sam. But you know that, don't you?"

Sam grimaced and shrugged awkwardly in response. Another yell interrupted their conversation, and they both turned to look. Though the cheesespider seemed fine for now, Flint's butt appeared to be singed. He shook it off quickly, though, and hit a button that had been hidden in the strap of his backpack. A loud buzzing ensued as jets appeared out of the bottom. As he rose (rather noisily) into the air, a determined look washed over his face.

"Lightning Rider, I won't let you win again! You can't endanger the world like this!" Flint shouted. He took out an ice gun and pointed it at the creature with a look of mixed fear and apprehension.

"Don't do it! You don't know what you're doing!" Sam shouted as she leapt up using the power of the wand-granted wind magic. The ice gun had been flipped on and it had begun to whir while pointed at the cheesespider. Thinking quickly, Sam spun and swung her fist. But this time, he dodged! She blinked in shock and stumbled forward on the roof.

Even Flint had started panting, eyes wide. He furrowed his eyebrows even further this time and shakily pointed the ice gun at her. "It just freezes you, but... I have... I have to stop you." Sam closed her eyes and thought of a tornado. The wind around them, previously a small breeze, began to pick up and expanded to a man-sized tornado. It was in fact big enough to sweep Flint away, him screaming as he fought to escape the swirling winds.

She now turned her attention to the cheesespider, who had grumbled "Ennnnnhhhhh... Wwwwoooooooo."


	7. Rescue!

Sam hadn't had any idea what the cheesespider was uttering, but she had no time to think too deeply on it. Her now-enemy had landed somewhat safely on top of a nearby pharmacy, and it was only a matter of time before he found his way down and trying to harm this creature again.

"Flame Rider, hurry!"

"I'm WAY ahead of you! Get your weather magic ready, please!"

Callie positioned her arms in front of her, and swirled her wand with this movement. The flames opened a small gateway for the cheesespider to leave the encirclement through.

Sam immediately picked up on what Callie was trying to do. She pictured another tornado, and then another one, in her mind, then lifted her wand once again to aim for the circle of fire. A path formed, bordered by flames, that headed to the nearest park. As the creature ventured with shaky steps, Callie and Sam gently jogged beside it, coaxing it along.

"C'mon, c'mon, that's a good critter! C'mon! There you go!" Sam cooed.

The cheesespider finally rustled its way into the trees surrounding the nearby park. Sam and Callie leaned on their knees, huffing and panting. At this point, the large crowd had grown bored and there were no longer eyes on them, so they both de-transformed.

Sam jerked up suddenly after a couple of minutes. "I have to go back! I'm sorry, Cal. But Flint is the last person whom I want to know my secret identity. I'm sure you'd understand." Callie nodded, and the blonde dashed off before she had a chance to cross her arms and shake her head, a teasing smile dancing on her lips.

There was no need to worry for Sam, though. There was no sign of Flint when she returned to the movie theater. Several hours had passed, so The Wurst of Brats was out of the question. Clouds rolled in, and rain began to drip hesitantly, then thundered down after several minutes. Sam cursed and backed under the stoop of the theater. Finally, in the thinning crowds and sea of umbrellas, she spotted a familiar, messy-haired face.

As Flint limped towards her, he made a few pathetic-sounding sneezes. Sam's heart lurched with guilt, and a million different solutions for the situation that had already passed rushed through her mind.

"Hey... what's the matter?" Sam asked. She tried, and failed, to sound innocent of his current plight. However, he seemed to be too sick to notice, fighting back another sneeze with a loud sniffle.

"I dink I might be sick with a cowd," he answered. "S-sorry... I dink the mowvie might be off. I'd love to go, but -" Flint sneezed again. "I have to go home."

Sam grimaced. "You can't go home in that condition," she said softly. "Why don't you come home with me... I can brew you some tea and you can warm up."

Flint's already red face turned even redder with a blush. "I c-can't do dat."

Sam grasped his hands desperately. "Please."

A sad "N-woo" came from her backpack.

She ignored this. "Please come home with me. I want to make you feel better."

Flint finally relented as Steve sneezed too. "Okay, fine... I'll do it."

Barb, watching from the alley, shook her head to herself and huffed. _No good can come of this_ , she thought to herself. _No, no good at all._


	8. A New Friend

"My apartment isn't too far from here. Are you up for walking 14 blocks?" Sam turned and asked Flint. He tried to look brave, but his face twisted with distaste at the idea of walking that far in all this rain. "What about under my umbrella?" she asked, shaking out the aforementioned object and flapping it open.

The wild-haired inventor took a grateful but hesitant shuffle-step under the umbrella with Sam, and they began the walk to her apartment.

"So...what happened to you? I couldn't find you after I took cover inside the theater, too," Sam lied.

Flint turned suddenly stony. "I don't wanna talk about it," then, relenting, he added with a cough, "I had to work some overtime but got my butt kicked by… by Lightning Rider."

"Ouch, I'm sorry." She really was genuinely sorry that she had hurt him so badly. She got the feeling that, if it weren't for his connections to Live Corp, he wouldn't hurt a fly. After a minute of careful introspection, she finally said, "So, what do you like to do in your spare time?"

It was as if a light switch had been flipped on. "Oh, I make… invent stuff! Like these boots! They're made of a high-process…"

"Polymer adhesive," Sam finished breathlessly.

"And… and… and the Monkey Thought Translator! And I invent stuff at work all the time too!"

Sam squeezed Flint as she picked him up and swung him around, him being surprisingly light. "Oh, Flint, you're amazing!" she laughed.

As Flint landed he scratched his neck absentmindedly and sneezed again. "It's no big deal." He averted his gaze as another blush overtook him.

"No big deal, no way! This stuff is amazing!"

"You should come out to my lab sometime. I'd love to show it to you."

"I'd love to come!"

At this point they were at Sam's doorstep. She fished out her keys and unlocked the door. As it swung open, Flint took a pensive step back and sneezed again. Sam took his hand and tugged. "You've already come this far. C'mon… let's get you some dry clothes."

He could hardly argue with this. His lab coat was sopping, not to mention the rest of his outfit underneath. His boots shined with the wetness of the rain, and he sneezed yet again. "Th-thanks," he said. "Where's the bathroom?"

"Down the hall, to your left. Sorry about the mess," she said, stepping over a stack of meteorology magazines.

While Flint dried off in the bathroom, Sam dug through her dresser until she was able to fish out a Cornell University sweatshirt and some sweatpants. She was sure they'd fit him; while she was slight, he seemed to be even slighter and not quite her height.

She tried, and failed, not to think about the strange man in her bathroom, and she felt her face heat up as she knocked on the door and placed the pile in his outreached hand.

There was then a knock at the door.

"Coming!" Sam shouted.

Outside a woman about Sam's age shuffled shyly. She had dark skin and even darker hair, pulled back into one big poof of a ponytail. She wore brown overalls over a floral top, and grey sneakers. When she saw Sam, her eyes widened. "Are you...are you Lightning Rider?" she whispered.

Sam nodded quickly, trying not to attract Flint's attention. However, he was still in the bathroom, so she had nothing to fear.

"I'm Tonya," she said, "and I think… I think I'm supposed to be your next teammate. You see, I live down the hall from you. We're neighbors! And I'm, um, I'm Earth Rider. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you Tonya… Earth Rider." Sam smiled warmly. "But - "

"Sorry I took so long in the bathroom," Flint said, coming out. "I had to dry off Steve, too. Oh, do you have a guest? I can leave…"

Tonya put her hands behind her back. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you had company."

"No, no, no," Sam said suddenly. "Flint, this is Tonya, my neighbor, Tonya, Flint, my… my date. Why don't you both stay? We can watch a movie together."

The three of them plopped on Sam's couch with Sam in the middle as she grabbed her smartphone. "I've got Netflix," she said, "What do you guys wanna watch?"

"Sci fi is my favorite," Flint piped up.

"I like action and horror," Tonya said.

"Peanut butter!" Steve shrieked.

Sam thought for a moment. "Let's split the difference. How about a sci fi thriller?"

"Sure!"

"Yeah, that sounds good."

She thumbed through the list for a moment, then flipped on the TV. "Guardians of the Galaxy, anyone?"

"YES!" Tonya pumped her fist in excitement.

"I...I've never seen it. Is it any good?"

"Is it - is it GOOD? Flint, it's… just watch, okay? It's great, I promise."


	9. Lost

Sam went into work the next day feeling refreshed. The double date had heightened her already-high spirits, and to top things off, she'd gotten a free upgrade on her caramel latte that morning. Nothing could get in her way!

Her supervisor, a pale, prim woman with dyed grey hair, dressed in a blazer and slacks over a floral top, couldn't help but smile as she gave that morning's direction. "Sam, would you please go run this paperwork to our new designer?"

Sam grinned in response. "Sure, Kate!"

She even hummed a little tune while going down the hall to the design office. She poked her head inside. "Andi, right?"

A woman of East Asian descent Sam's age with bright blue chin-length hair, dressed in a suit and tie turned around. When she saw Sam with the papers, she smiled. "Ah, thank you Sam."

As Sam turned to walk out, she spotted something that looked suspiciously like a blue wand below Andi's chair. She bent down to pick it up. "Is this y–"

Andi quickly snatched it out of her grasp. "Ah, my PEN! Hahahahahahaaaa! Thanks! See ya!" She stood and pushed Sam out of the office, then shut the door behind her.

 _Well, that happened,_ Sam thought to herself.

Meanwhile, Flint was hard at work making repairs on his newest invention in his cubicle at Live Corp, the invisible coffee table. He hadn't quite gotten it to stay together just yet, though hunting for loose screws was a bit of a do. "Meatballs!" Flint swore under his breath as he hunted on hands and knees for the missing screws. He'd never get above the Junior Inventor position if he couldn't even get a simple thing like a coffee table to stay together!

"Young Lockwood, don't waste time hunting for tiny pieces when you could be doing something great!" The booming command came from none other than Chester, the CEO and Flint's number one idol, who had rounded the corner to see what his subordinates were up to.

"Right, sir, o-of course!" He stood abruptly and made a quick salute before returning to his desk. He smiled shyly to himself as he mulled over Chester's words. _Chester thinks I can do something great!_ he thought. _I better not let him down._

"Young Lockwood."

"Y-yes?"

"There is to be a practice run interview from a new weather reporter, and I want you, yes, _you_ , to take part in that." Flint's jaw dropped.

"Wow sir, I-I don't know what to say."

"Just be ready for it. And please do quit stuttering."

"Y-yes sir!" He puffed his chest up with pride.

As soon as Chester had walked away, Flint grabbed his custom-built smartphone and texted Sam. _Guess who's got an interview with the local news station? It's me!_

A few minutes passed by. "Flint, you have a text!" his phone cried. He fumbled with the phone and put it on silent, looking around hurriedly to make sure nobody had noticed (and they hadn't). _Of course I know that, silly. Guess who would be interviewing you?_

Flint felt his face turn red. _Anyway, are you up for a_ … He thought for a moment before sending the rest of the text. ... _nother activity tonight? We could go for ice cream?_

This reply came much more rapidly. _Of course!_

The day came and went quickly, seeming as fast as milk could be poured into Flint's double soy mocha latte.

Sam knocked on the large industrial door, her colleague the cameraman Manny by her side. She shivered a bit; this was not her first time inside these walls, would likely not be the last, and she hoped to God nobody recognized her…

"Ahhh, Miss Sparks, come right inside!" Chester greeted her. She couldn't help but feel that he sounded familiar. _Of course_ , she thought, _he's only the most famous scientist alive today_. But she couldn't shake the feeling that he sounded even more familiar to her than that. She tried her best to put the thought aside seeing that he hadn't made any moves against her, even so much as a side-eye. Perhaps he wasn't so familiar after all.

"H-hi Sam." The familiar form of Flint, her… _gosh, he is my boyfriend isn't he?_ brightened her mood immensely. His sheepish wave caused her to giggle in response, which she quickly stifled.

"Hey there Flint!" she cheerfully cried. "Manny, are you ready?"  
"As I'll ever be," came the reply.

"Hi America, Sam Sparks here with Weather News Network. Many of our viewers are concerned about Live Corp and its interaction with the surrounding climate. Flint, what can you tell me about Live Corp's effect on the environment? How is the company you're with making steps to combat the negative effects from such industrialization?"

Flint stood straighter, any trace of nervousness gone. His answer was smooth, quick, and ready. "Well Sam, we're taking lots of steps to combat the footprint left by industrialization we produce. For one, we recycle a lot of our reusable goods, which can impact how much waste we leave behind. Furthermore…" he continued, and Sam had to try not to let her jaw drop open. What a personality change! She loved this confidence he exuded when talking about science, and her favorite science in particular: meteorology and environmental science.

Andi sat at her desk and twiddled with her wand. She munched on a handful of popcorn and pocketed the magic item. Where was Lightning Rider? How would she know who she could trust with her secret?

"Sam, that was great work!" Kate exclaimed when she made her return. "The boss was originally going to ask someone else to do the interview for real, but you did wonderfully and he wants to use your footage instead! Can you go run down to Andi again and ask if she'll whip up a banner for you?"

Sam pumped her fist. "YES! Thanks, Kate!"

"Oh, Sam, you dropped your…" But Sam was already gone. "Your pen."

Kate leant down to pick up the lightning rod wand. She eyed it closer, and took out a similar rod from her inside pocket. She let the two roll openly in her hand before pocketing both. Hers was simple and silver, and twinkled in the flourescent light of the office.

"Hmmm, interesting," she mused aloud. She knew she'd have to return the wand to Sam secretively. Now she just had to think of a way to do it…

Sam knocked on Andi's door. "Hey, it's me, Sam!" she yelled through the door.

The door opened quickly. "What's up?"

"Boss asked me to ask you for a banner."

"Oh, of COURSE! Give me a few minutes and I'll have that ready for you."

While she was waiting (Andi had a template she'd created ready exactly for this purpose, after all), Sam felt for her pockets, panicked. "Have you seen my… my pen?" she asked.

Andi dropped her mouse and turned away from the monitor, stone-faced. " _You're_ Lightning Rider? I feel like such an idiot…"

"No, no, don't! I mean, I have to keep it a secret. Please don't tell…" Sam's voice dropped off as Andi pulled out her wand to show her. "Ohhhhh! You're Wave Rider. That explains so much."

Andi grinned, then turned serious again. "We have to find your wand."


	10. Now We're a Team

Sam nodded briskly. "Of course."

Heading back to her workspace, she thought first she'd ask her coworkers. "Have you guys seen my pen?"

Mac, Kiana, and Faith exchanged glances with each other, and quickly surveyed the floor before looking back to their team-mate. "No," they answered in unison.  
Kate walked back into the room. "You mean this pen?" she asked, pressing a rod into Sam's palm. Her team-mates had since turned back to their own workspaces to get back to work.

"Oh, yes! I mean…" Sam looked at it more closely. A silver star twinkled at the top, and silver glinted throughout the rod. This wasn't hers! But it would belong… to Wind Rider.

Kate saw Sam's expression and offered hers, smiling softly. "I'll trade you."

"Thanks."

Sam logged into Facebook on her phone and invited Kate and Andi to a groupchat she'd created.

 _Ping!_

Sam read over her text before sending it. _Now we have a way to communicate when things go wrong_.

 _Like when you date an enemy henchman? Should you call us when you two smooch?_ Callie's wise-cracks never ceased, even in text.

The chorus of _you what?_ s and _no way!_ s was enough to send Sam's phone into convulsions.

 _Very funny, Cal_. Sam's face reddened at the thought of smooching Flint.

 _Miss Sparks, you know the rules about texting at work. You too, Callie, Andi_. Kate, as it turns out, was a very dry texter.

 _Sorry._

 _Will do._

 _My bad_.

Sam sighed and put her phone down. The preview clip of her interview had landed in her inbox, anyway…

Her phone vibrated again. Sam glanced over her shoulder, then picked it up hesitantly.

 _I have to go round up some huge potato creatures. Wish me luck!_

"Um."

She quickly flipped over to the groupchat. _Guys, Flint just let me know he's going to round up some food creatures. We gotta go… now!_

Kate turned and looked at her. _Let's all meet at the café near the news station. Tonya, are you close enough?_

 _Yeah. Let's do this!_

Once all five Riders had transformed, they ran straight for Live Corp.'s headquarters.

"I have an idea," Tonya said. "Let's catch up to the potato critters, then set off the fire alarm. Everyone will have no choice but to evacuate. The distraction should allow us to guide them out easily."

Andi nodded. "That sounds like a good idea."

Sam bobbed her head in agreement, as well. "Let's do this then, guys."

It took several tries off the elevator before they finally found Flint and the hippotatomuses. Luckily, once they found what floor they were on, the large group was an easy target. However, he'd had the good sense to hit the security alarm once he spotted them. Apprehended by a group of vested guards, they were wrestled off the floor they were on back into the elevator, and back onto the first floor, before they were able to non-violently strike back and escape. Flint had taken off running, and Callie swore under her breath. "Crab-cakes!"

They'd caught up to him in the main elevator shaft. Because of the fire alarms they'd set off, the floor was not visible, hidden under several inches of water. Soaking wet, he stood atop a catwalk several dozen feet above them, laughing in true mad scientist fashion.

"You won't be able to endanger the city now!" he cried. Several hippotatomuses were clustered behind him, huddled together in fear. However, because of their weight, the catwalk bent dangerously and creaked with every step.

Andi looked quickly at Sam, whose eyes were locked on Flint, or rather his feet. She dared not cry out for him, though, not wanting to further erode the trust her team-mates had in her.

Abruptly, the catwalk snapped, sending him down, down, down.

"Aaaauuuuugghhhhh!"

"Flint!" Sam leaped up quickly and caught him, cradling his body carefully in her arms. She alighted down much more gently than his unbroken fall would have, but he'd still fainted from the shock.

"The enemy has been neutralized," Kate announced to the team.

"Let's go save the foodimals!" Tonya cried. At her words, the four Riders rushed out of the enormous elevator shaft, doubtless to rush up the stairs after the hippotatomuses.

Sam set Flint gently down into the water. She set him up so that his head was between his knees, and within minutes she had him gasping and awake. As soon as he realized what had happened, he leapt up and back, away from Sam. With no weapons, he held up his hands, ready to fight if he had to.

"A thank you would be nice." Sam remarked with some amount of venom.

Flint grabbed his arm self-consciously and looked away. "Thanks for saving me, Lightning Rider. I know you must hate me by now. You kinda have to."

"You want to know I feel about you? Do you really want to know?" Sam asked, a bit of anger still in her voice. Flint swallowed.

"Y-yeah. I-I-I guess I – whoa!" She'd grabbed the lapels of his labcoat and yanked him closer until their noses were touching. He blushed. He'd never been this close to anyone before…

Her lips locked onto his suddenly, and he was so taken aback his eyes widened, though her own were closed, eyebrows furrowed. He closed his own eyes and relaxed a bit, which she took as an opportunity to deepen the kiss. When finally they broke, Flint jumped away, gasping again for air, face red, and lips a bit swollen.

"Lightning Rider…" he gasped. "Y-y-you c-can't… I have a g-g-girlfriend."


End file.
